The past two days have been two of the most hectic, frustrating days of this journey thus far.
I was working on some homework in the morning at the cafe'. Tuesdays and Thursdays are busy for me because those are the days I have classes. I received a phone call from the nurse at the IVF clinic. She asked me to stop taking my BCP's immediately (today was supposed to be my last day anyway) and schedule an ultrasound for that day! I was really confused and she didn't really tell me what was going on. I was supposed to have an ultrasound NEXT Wednesday for a lining check to make sure everything looked good. I was surprised and confused that they were suddenly pushing it up a week. I was also very frustrated because a) I had two classes to go to still, and b) I had to drive 30 miles to go to this appt. So I called and scheduled the appt. The only time I could get in was 11:30. I had class until 11 so I told them I'd be late. It was fine. On my way, I called J, my coordinator and asked her if she knew what was going on. She said she did and was surprised I didn't know. Apparently the egg donor stopped taking her birth control pills last Thursday (which was what her med schedule told her to do) and she was supposed to keep taking them until this Thursday. So now everything is pushed up a week. So they had to make sure my body was responding to the lupron and BCP's and that my ovaries were "quiet".
I made there a bit late (ten minutes, maybe?) and the front desk girl reluctantly "let" me check-in. I waited in the room for 45 minutes (naked from the waist down with only a paper "sheet" to cover me) The Dr. finally came in and introduced himself. We got started and it looked like everything was looking how it should. I then had to get blood drawn for the estradiol test. By this time it was 12:45 and I had class in ten minutes. I was not going to make it. I missed two quizzes and was really upset. I emailed my professor in hopes I could make them up but have not heard back. I'm guessing no.
Well, we got the results back and everything looks good with me! That is a huge plus! I then spoke with R and C on the phone last night in hopes to get our travel dates nailed down. The new plan is to go the 6th-9th. So basically a week sooner. They will be booking our flights, hotel, rental car, etc. I am bringing Josh and the boys with for the trip. We're getting very excited!
On to today. (gosh, this is a long post!) I got an email from R asking for our full names and birth dates for booking the flights. Naturally I asked him what kind of flight times we're looking at. (If you've ever traveled with kids, you know how much of a pain it is.) We wanted to be sure we didn't have to wake up at 3 am to catch a 6am flight. We also wanted to make sure that we wouldn't need to have layovers that would be hours long. It seemed as though R and C were as frustrated as I was. Since they are using their miles to pay for our flights, the flight choices were limited. Which wasn't really a big deal, but we just wanted to try to plan around the choices and choose the best ones for us. I could tell it was making them frustrated and uneasy, which made me frustrated and uneasy. It seemed like no one wanted to make a decision or suggestion of what the other should do. So finally I just made the decision and emailed it to R. 5 minutes later I got a flight confirmation email! haha. I guess he was just waiting for us to decide. All is good now and everything is booked, but it's sooo hard when you're trying to be so accommodating because someone else is paying for you, yet you want to have a little bit of a say in the decision.
And to top it all off, I've had a horrible headache for almost 14 hours now. Along with a sick baby. And homework.
Please join my pity party! There's cake! :)
October 22, 2010
October 11, 2010
Contracts, Meds, and cycling, OH MY!
Well we are currently in the contract phase and let me tell you, it's not fun. Reading through a 27 page contract and trying to follow along is a lot of work! There weren't too many things that I disagreed with or wanted negotiated, but there were a few. So my lawyer made the changes and sent them back to the IP's lawyer. Hopefully they'll happily accept the changes and we can get the contract signed asap!
As soon as next week, I think, I will be starting my medications. There are a lot! But it's actually not as bad as some other med schedules I've seen so that's a plus! The worst will be the injections but I'm not usually nervous about shots so I think I'll be okay. We'll see how it goes.
Either way, we're well underway! I think we are looking at a transfer date sometime the week of November 15th.
As soon as next week, I think, I will be starting my medications. There are a lot! But it's actually not as bad as some other med schedules I've seen so that's a plus! The worst will be the injections but I'm not usually nervous about shots so I think I'll be okay. We'll see how it goes.
Either way, we're well underway! I think we are looking at a transfer date sometime the week of November 15th.
October 5, 2010
Meeting the IP's
Last weekend the IP's (C and R) flew from out east to the mid-west to meet us!
We met up at a local cafe' that I used to manage. A locally owned place that offers fresh juices, organic food, and fresh roasted coffee. It's like my second home. A wonderful place filled with wonderful people and awesome, unique food. So Josh, the boys and I spent about an hour at the cafe' with C and R. We learned a lot about them. They are both amazing people. They enjoy a lot of the same things we do and care a lot about good food and good health. We live similar lifestyles which is a plus.
The boys started to get restless so we invited C and R back to our house for some tea. They followed us there. I was nervous about having them to our house. I am by NO MEANS a good housekeeper. My kids are messy. (They're 3 and 1, what do you expect?) I tried to tidy up the place before having them over. The other thing is, my house is tiny. Like, 700 sq ft, tiny. But it works for us. And if someone was going to judge us based on those things, I would feel like it wasn't a good fit in the first place.
Luckily they thought our house was beautiful (and quaint, haha!) and it seemed as though they thoroughly enjoyed their time there. They brought gifts for the boys and chocolate for Josh and I! (They had already won us over, but this definitely took the cake!)
How did they know that our 3 year old loved trains so much? I think they won someone else over too. ;)
They played with the boys and chatted with us. It was a lovely time and Josh and I felt really good about it all after they left.
I feel like meeting them was meant to happen. I'm not one to usually believe in things like that, but something tells me that C and R will become life-long friends of ours.
We met up at a local cafe' that I used to manage. A locally owned place that offers fresh juices, organic food, and fresh roasted coffee. It's like my second home. A wonderful place filled with wonderful people and awesome, unique food. So Josh, the boys and I spent about an hour at the cafe' with C and R. We learned a lot about them. They are both amazing people. They enjoy a lot of the same things we do and care a lot about good food and good health. We live similar lifestyles which is a plus.
The boys started to get restless so we invited C and R back to our house for some tea. They followed us there. I was nervous about having them to our house. I am by NO MEANS a good housekeeper. My kids are messy. (They're 3 and 1, what do you expect?) I tried to tidy up the place before having them over. The other thing is, my house is tiny. Like, 700 sq ft, tiny. But it works for us. And if someone was going to judge us based on those things, I would feel like it wasn't a good fit in the first place.
Luckily they thought our house was beautiful (and quaint, haha!) and it seemed as though they thoroughly enjoyed their time there. They brought gifts for the boys and chocolate for Josh and I! (They had already won us over, but this definitely took the cake!)
How did they know that our 3 year old loved trains so much? I think they won someone else over too. ;)
They played with the boys and chatted with us. It was a lovely time and Josh and I felt really good about it all after they left.
I feel like meeting them was meant to happen. I'm not one to usually believe in things like that, but something tells me that C and R will become life-long friends of ours.
Why surrogacy?
When I was pregnant with both of my children, I learned as much about pregnancy and childbirth as anyone could. It became a passion. I became knowledgeable about everything related to pregnancy and childbirth. One might say I was obsessed. I quickly fell in love with the female body and it's amazing power to conceive, house, and expel a tiny human being. It's all very fascinating to me.
I've since given birth to two of those little beings. They've become my newest "obsession" but I haven't lost my passion for pregnancy. After the birth of my second child, I really missed being pregnant. I told Josh "I want another baby!" He assured me I didn't want another baby. I just wanted to be pregnant.
He was right.
Thus began my research on a new topic. Surrogacy. Knowing all I knew about pregnancy, labor and childbirth, certainly I could carry someone else's baby, right?
I spent many months researching Surrogacy. I wanted to be sure I was done nursing my youngest before proceeding with anything so I spent those months learning everything there was to know about it. When I finally felt it was my time to become a surrogate, I found an agency I really liked and applied to be a Gestational Carrier. I had a phone interview with the coordinator, who was absolutely lovely, and she quickly accepted me!! She assured me it would take at least 6 months to match me with IP's (Intended Parents).
Two weeks later I got a call from Jesse that she was presenting my profile to a set of IP's! I couldn't believe it! Could it really happen this fast? A few days later I received another call from Jesse!
They picked me!!! WHAAAT???
I was truly astonished. My heart raced and a million questions started going through my mind. Who are they? What are they like? Where do they live? Why me?
As soon as she told me a little bit about the couple, I knew it was right. We scheduled a conference call a few days later and I talked to my IP's for nearly 2 hours on the phone. Within the first five minutes of the conversation, I knew this is what was supposed to happen. It felt right.
The next couple of weeks were filled with emails back and forth between IP's, Jesse and myself. A lot of things needed to happen . Josh and I needed to do some testing: blood work, psych evaluations, etc. I needed to have a few more tests to make sure my body was a good house for someone else's babe.
Everything checked out and we are now in the contract phase! We should be signing any day now.
Some say it's a selfless act. I disagree. While it's maybe 90% selfless, a little part of me feels like I'm the lucky one. I love being pregnant. I get to do what I love while helping another couple add the only thing they need to complete their family: a baby. Something they wouldn't otherwise be able to have. I feel truly blessed to be able to offer this to 2 amazing people.
I've since given birth to two of those little beings. They've become my newest "obsession" but I haven't lost my passion for pregnancy. After the birth of my second child, I really missed being pregnant. I told Josh "I want another baby!" He assured me I didn't want another baby. I just wanted to be pregnant.
He was right.
Thus began my research on a new topic. Surrogacy. Knowing all I knew about pregnancy, labor and childbirth, certainly I could carry someone else's baby, right?
I spent many months researching Surrogacy. I wanted to be sure I was done nursing my youngest before proceeding with anything so I spent those months learning everything there was to know about it. When I finally felt it was my time to become a surrogate, I found an agency I really liked and applied to be a Gestational Carrier. I had a phone interview with the coordinator, who was absolutely lovely, and she quickly accepted me!! She assured me it would take at least 6 months to match me with IP's (Intended Parents).
Two weeks later I got a call from Jesse that she was presenting my profile to a set of IP's! I couldn't believe it! Could it really happen this fast? A few days later I received another call from Jesse!
They picked me!!! WHAAAT???
I was truly astonished. My heart raced and a million questions started going through my mind. Who are they? What are they like? Where do they live? Why me?
As soon as she told me a little bit about the couple, I knew it was right. We scheduled a conference call a few days later and I talked to my IP's for nearly 2 hours on the phone. Within the first five minutes of the conversation, I knew this is what was supposed to happen. It felt right.
The next couple of weeks were filled with emails back and forth between IP's, Jesse and myself. A lot of things needed to happen . Josh and I needed to do some testing: blood work, psych evaluations, etc. I needed to have a few more tests to make sure my body was a good house for someone else's babe.
Everything checked out and we are now in the contract phase! We should be signing any day now.
Some say it's a selfless act. I disagree. While it's maybe 90% selfless, a little part of me feels like I'm the lucky one. I love being pregnant. I get to do what I love while helping another couple add the only thing they need to complete their family: a baby. Something they wouldn't otherwise be able to have. I feel truly blessed to be able to offer this to 2 amazing people.
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